Rental Property Investor · Springfield, MO · Member since 2017 · 266 posts · 312 votes
I am looking at a piece of land located 3 blocks from the high school is an up and coming suburb. The land was a farm and is cleared and level. There are some C+/B homes in the area. The land is just outside of the city limits, so I'm thinking of building a quad and house hacking it. The land has city water running by it, but no sewer, electric or gas.
Question: would I have to pay to have the utilities run to the property or would it be the responsibility of the utility companies, the city or both? The cost of paying to lay sewer lines could be a deal breaker. The sewer line ends about 2 blocks from the property.
I'm sure this area will be developed in coming years. I could buy the property and hold until someone else builds in the area, but I could lose the zoning option for building a quad or duplexes.
Blue Springs, MO · Member since 2017 · 24 posts · 16 votes
8y
I built some spec houses and had to have electricity ran into a property. In our area I had to pay to have it done but the utility company did it and at a much cheaper rate than if I had hired an independent company to do it. The rate was different if it was going to be occupied homes or seasonal homes. The occupied was cheaper. It was a couple of years ago but I think the rate was less than $1 per ft. If it is in an area that is going to be developed anyway, you might get lucky when you contact them and they not charge anything to run service in there. You never know until you ask and they know your plans. Also, the cost of running sewer isn't as expensive as you are thinking either. Again, if the city sees the area is going to develop they may decide it is worth them running the sewer into the area because of the future customers it is going to serve. Are you buying the whole property or just one lot? If the whole property I would approach some builders who build spec houses and offer them lots at a discount to build in there. The more going on the less expensive the cost for running in the utilities.